This simple salad is a wonderful way to enjoy the fresh, spring flavor of fava beans. Fava beans and fresh pecorino cheese are a classic Italian preparation. Be sure to serve it by itself (maybe with a bit of bread) as a first course where the fava beans (and all the work that went into shelling them) can shine.
See this Step-By-Step Guide to Shelling Fava Beans if you've never done it before.
Prep Time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
- 4 lbs. fava beans
- 2 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
- Coarse sea salt or fleur de sel
- 2 oz. fresh pecorino cheese, diced
Preparation:
- Shell, blanch, and re-shell fava beans. You should end up with about 2 cups of fava beans.
- In a medium bowl, toss fava beans with oil. Divide evenly among 4 salad plates. Sprinkle each portion with salt to taste and top with cheese. Serve at room temperature.
Makes 4 servings Fava Bean & Pecorino Salad.
